NCC is playing a leading role in the development of the biodiversity economy in the Western Cape. This blog post provides an overview of our work in this area which includes: a) the drafting of two reports for the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (EADP) in 2016 with recommendations on how to support the growth of two sub-sectors of the biodiversity economy; b) the implementation of a three year project funded by the Table Mountain Fund (TMF) to develop a business model for emerging entrepreneurs to participate in the biomass value chain and c) our ongoing participation with other key role-players in forums and workshops aimed at developing the biomass value chain.
The motivation for our involvement in this space is to enable the more cost-effective clearing of invasive alien trees by using revenue derived from the sale of biomass to clear more hectares at a lower cost per person day. This aligns with our mission to conserve biodiversity, restore ecosystem functioning (especially in riparian areas), conserve water, reduce fire risk and to create work opportunities and employment in rural areas.

The Sustainable Event Alliance (SEA) is proud to announce that the newest cohorts to the accredited professional program are from Finland and South Africa – proving that sustainable event management is being embraced across the globe.

As part of the Longyuan Mulilo joint partnership's Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) and Environmental Authorisation (EA) it was stipulated that professional faunal and floral search and rescue be done on all areas marked for development including roads, site camps, laydown areas and turbine positions. During this activity Boophone disticha, a poisonous bulbous plant that requires a licence for removal and relocation, was discovered.

Posted by
Donovan Langeveldt (Business Unit Leader: Business Support) on 29 February 2016

NCC recently invested a significant amount of money to ensure that it has state of the art business management software to support efficiency and cost reduction. While we have seen the reduction in costs as well as experienced more efficient processes as a result of these systems, the impact on paper use is something that has not been highlighted.

World Water Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd March. Download this poster and display it at your school, office, complex or organisations to encourage people to do their part this World Water Week.

The permit application process for tree relocation on construction sites sometimes ends up delaying a project, especially if the conditions on the site are different from the initial application. Responsible environmental management sometimes means having to drive to the permit office to get the permit in your hands so the project can continue. That's our kind of 'going the extra mile'!

Transmission lines are integral for getting the energy produced around the country to the grid, however linear projects such as power lines and pipelines have a whole suite of environmental impacts which need to be mitigated by the project team. On this particular project the impact on an eagle species, more specifically the Martial Eagle, was a new challenge.